Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-10-14
NEGROES OF THE COAST.
A GRAPHIC SKETCH OF LIFE AMONG
THE SOUTHERN FREEDMEN.
Natives" o: the Island of Hilton Head.
A Strange Collection Of human Incon-
piest People ON the Earth.

A Strange Collection Of human Incon-
gruity-Cust"msa and Mann"r--The Hap
piest People the Earth.
Chapters have been written about the
negro of the coast. Today we propose 10
sketch briefly his general mode of life,
without dwelling upon any one of his
characteristics. Let us take the island uf
Hilton Head, which is not many miles
from Savannah and nearer still TO Beau
fort, n dozen miles or more Of whose mag
nificcnt beach is washed by Calaboge
sound and the Atlantic itself. OF the
island itself It may be said that it is
about seventeen miles in length by about
five in width; that it is barren enough TO
grow pea vines and nut grass indifierently,
and that, with the exception Of perhaps
800 acres Of cleared land, 1t is densely
covered with pine. cedar and palmetto, in
whose thickets deer. turkey and smaller
game, notably the raccoou. abound. OF
the people who inhabit it, much more may
be said Several weeks ago the writer,
while Temporarily seafarinc. encountered
terrific gale off Hilton Head and was
driven upon its arid shores, where he was
forced, whether or not, to remain for a
week. II may be well, in order the more
faithfully TO describe the manners and
customs Of the natives, To sketcn briefly
our enforced soj"urn among them, and
this We will endeavor to do.
"NArIvEs'' on THE BEACL.
1t was late in August when the sQuall
struck us Our boat was unwieldy and
anything but seaworthy, but with all
sails set We managed 10 keep her before
the wind, and clumsy rs she was We flew
through the boiling breakers at a mad
rate. We crossed Broad river furiously,
and our landing, most dangerous feat
under such circumstances, was accom-
plished with marvellous good luck. Hav-
ing drawn our craft into a creek, where
she found partial protection from the
gale, We turned our attention to the
natives" They had gathered upon the
beach in great numbers-men, women
and children-viewing us with gaping
curiosity. Not that the sight Of boat
was Il novelty, but that the strange faces
In it awoke astonishment, If not wonder.
The men We're brawny, muscular fellows,
dressed in every variety of patched gar
ments; the women wore short frocks,
with no head or foot dress; the larger
children Of either sex boasted q single
garment, Mother Hubbard in appearance.
and the younger children, probably from
10 and under, wore only-their skins.
Amid this collection Of human incon-
yruity We made our bow and begged to
be shown to the nearest hotel. An in-
credulous guffaw, that rose in chorus
above the bowling Of the wind, answered
US, and we were pointed TO the "Islant,"
whose barrenness was decidedly intensi-
fed by the woebegoneness Of the nuIner-
ous log huts that punctuated and em-
phasiZed il.
Except that they were adorned with
>lapboard roofs, these habitations were
models Of pigpens. with hole in one end
Tor door and clay chimney in the other
They had once been clGycd over-that is,
the inch or SO Of space between the logs
had been stopped up with clay-but the
:lay had long since been attracted by
gravitation, and the cracks had never been
retilled. There were no floors; mother
earth WAS plenty good enough. There
were some benches and a pine table, but
no chairs Everything was smoke be-
yrime,!, moi excepting The Police Gazette
pictures that We're pasted about in i'm
possible places. The furniture, other than
that already described, consisted fer the
most part Of tin pans and cans, pots and
pals, dogs Iand what dogs, cats (and oh,
what cats, and an occasional chicken
worth quarter. There were also odors
Of dried fish, and crab like odors, and sug-
gestions Of mud. There were occasional
optical illusions of watermelon rinds, and
quite often glimpse of q raccoon skin
stretched proudly against some favored
square foot Of smoothness There were
R.h al. h.11
abundantly strewn about and plentifuty
intsrspersed with the bones Of forgotten
sharks.
CUSTOMS AND MANNERS.
All this wholesome sight We saw with
less Of wonder than may be supposed, for
we had been among this people before,
who are a peculiar people, and VINO dwell
exclusively upon the islands of the Caro-
lima coast But what OF their customs and
manners. Well, they live on fish, oysters,
crabs and other productions Of the salt
water. They plant potatoes, corn and
cotton and they make enough by this
means 10 clothe themselves, or more ac-
curately to half clothe themselves, but
they seldom male anything over. Their
corn and some Of their potatoes are put
aside to be eaten through the season (or as
long as it lasts rather with the fish in
prospect, but the fish in prospect is uni
versally depended upon to keep the wolf
from the door The cotton and the pota-
toes, except the remnant mentioned, to-
gether with a slim supply Of chickens and
eggs are taken to Savannah or Beaufort
in broken lots and exchanged for clothing
and '.rart cash" This is hasty out
line of their customs. As 10 their man.
ners, they have none. They do exactly
as they please in all things. They dress as
they please, 60 where they please, and say
what they please after their manner OF say
ing il. Their children, male and female,
are taught to row and fish from infancy,
and many boat load of darky damsels
have We seen battling manfully q with
the waves. And their language! great
Caesar. 1t is ear splitting-simply mon
strous. We shall not attempt to describe
it, since we have attempted it before and
failed.
To conclude, this people, we verify be-
lieve, is the happiest people upon earth.
What have they to worry or distress them'
What to concern them at all, save the
finding Of bait and the finding Of fish. anj
the occasional catching of coon, all OF
which is a separate delight and concerns
them only in SO much as il gives them
pleasure. And the man of the world--of
the different, the widely different world
who is given To see and reflect upon tlIs
exclusive and peculiar people can but shy
to himself afterward, here ignorance is
bliss. '"-Augusta Ga Gazette.
Velocity nf IA TcrDndo